Home Sweet Home
by SapphireTrafficker
Summary: Anastasia wants a long engagement, she doesn't want to say goodbye to a bachelorette just yet, but Christian is more than ready to be a husband. What will one night shift as a vet and animal mortician change their mind? How does home taste like? Bitter sweet. Entry for the Sisterhood FB Group first challenge, *he knew that he was home when her lips touched his* .Complete for now.


**My entry to the Sisterhood FB Group challenge.**

 **Prompt: _he knew that he was home when her lips touched his_**

* * *

Home Sweet Home

Anastasia Steele

White was the color for hospitals, no matter what kind, even under the bright white light shinning through the windows and on to the busy street under the dimmed sunlight. The heat of the summer was just making the job of the doctors harder, but this place was for animals, after all, and not for human. In this place, animals were placed in front of human. Even though they didn't have an ambulance that could rush them here, but the owners would pray to god that an ambulance could be spared for their beloved pet if it wasn't against the law.

At the reception desk, a stray cat was being passed over by a person who found it dying on the street. From the look on the receptionist's face, the cat had been through something horrible. Judging on the current state that the cat seemed to be in, it was a touch little thing.

"Who's on tonight?" The receptionist shouted to the people fussing behind her. The operation rooms were still lit, but no one was inside anymore. There were people cleaning the tools and wiping the tables, they all seemed ready to call it a day as it was already five in the afternoon. However, it was just the beginning of Anastasia's shift.

"Me." Said woman took the cat from the receptionist's arms and placed it on to the desk in a room behind the desk.

"Who else?"

"Check the list. Didn't you made the schedule, Claire?" Anastasia replied with a subtle shrug, but her attention was still focused on the cat in front of her who looked less than hydrated. "Do I have an assistant tonight, by the way?" She then called in the general direction of Claire, even though she couldn't be bothered if there was no one to answer her.

"Uh yeah." The answer came back few seconds later. "It's just us and José tonight, I hope nothing happens." Another woman walked through the door to see Anastasia still fussing over the poor thing.

"José?" Anastasia didn't even bother to keep her annoyance at bay and groaned out loud. "Why does he always have the same shift as me?" She whined through her mask. Straightening her back, she had a bottle containing some vitamin water in her hand that the cat was sucking tentatively from.

"I swear, that guy can be a good friend one second and a helpless asshole the next. I don't even want to know how you put up with him for so long. Though, I can assume that I'll be the only one doing something tonight, seeing as you and him might want some time alone during _working hours_." Anastasia shrugged nonchalantly as if her words weren't spiteful and she had already gotten used to the working partners she always got assigned to.

"Ouch, Ana." The African American woman muttered under her breath. "Who poisoned your cheerios this morning?"

Anastasia couldn't help but chuckle at the twisted version of the saying, something only Hannah would be able to pull off without looking stupid.

"Same ole shit, Han." Anastasia rolled her eyes, "and I didn't have cereals this morning." She added jokingly. Then she removed the now emptied bottle from the cat's mouth.

"He still can't get over with it, can he?" Hannah sighed, it wasn't even a question, it only came out as one. "You have this overnight shift once a week, it's already so much better than other people's. Plus, yours is always on a Friday night, which is even better since you get to chill with him over the weekend when the others has to work their ass off over the two most busy days of the week." Hannah rambled. It was the same thing ever time this topic came up, and it seemed as this assistant of hers had more complaints about her fiancé's weird temper than herself.

"Well, what can you say, he's Christian Grey." Anastasia concluded, as if that could explain everything, but she was tired of the conversation before it had even started. She didn't like it when people talked about her relationship, especially when her fiancé wasn't just anyone, but the Master of the Universe, or the Prince of Seattle if you would. "He's been like this since we started dating." She sighed, not sure whether to be blissful of the memory now or frustrated about his overbearing temper.

"How are you two now, any progress?" Hannah asked worriedly. Even though Anastasia didn't like disclosing personal matters to others, especially work colleagues, but she and Hannah had been gossiping about others and sometimes talk a little about their own life since they started working together. Though, they made sure to keep everything vague, the feeling was still easy to grasp through the few word exchange. The last time they talked, Hannah got the impression that Anastasia and Christian were fighting about something, and she got it solely from the way Anastasia behaved when her relationship was being brought up. Same goes for Hannah when she was asked about her rocky path that she was going down with José.

"We're still fine. Still engaged." Anastasia let out a sarcastic snort that even sounded pathetic in her own ears. Placing the cat aside to let it sleep of the fatigues it was feeling when it first arrived, she took a seat at the corner, staring off into space.

"That's good to hear." Hannah shrugged, though her tone matched her sarcasm just as much. "I mean, I don't think it's possible to that man to change what he feels for you. He is sold to you completely."

Definitely felt that." Anastasia remarked in a murmur to herself. "He definitely had a special way of showing his love though." She thought to herself, but from the look on Hannah's face, she knew that she had said it out loud, again.

Anastasia and Christian had been engaged for a few months now. Their engagement was announced not long after they admitted their relationship to the public, it made everyone wonder if it would be a shotgun wedding. That was one of the reason why they were cooling off by themselves, currently. Christian wanted to marry her as soon as possible, only with one pure intention in mind, to make her his entirely. To her, however, she wanted a long engagement to enjoy the freedom before tying the knot. Now that she didn't want to marry him, but she also liked being a girlfriend or a fiancée, she didn't want to be a wife so soon. Family was off limit to the both of them for the time being, but he wanted a married life with her when she didn't want that so soon.

A wedding wasn't something in Anastasia's dream when she was young, nor growing up, but when it was now in front of her, she was starting to think twice of all the decisions that she had made and had been making throughout her life. From jumping into a relationship with Christian, falling head over heels with that man, and with all the hot, smoky sex as their norm in their relationship, it was hard to say no to the most romantic proposal. She knew they were going too fast, but a part of er just wanted to go with the flow and let him take the lead.

There would be a moment when everything all comes crashing down, where the bubble would burst. She wanted to prepare herself for that, because she had been hotheaded, and she admitted that. She knew that there would be arguments and disagreements in a relationship, or that wouldn't be a devoted relationship. Their relationship had been based on the afire love that was burning in its brightest element in a moment of passion, but she believed that the flame would die down sooner or later. Everything would come to a halt eventually, if not gradually.

When she wrapped her mind around all the possibilities and the fact that there would be a ring on her finger for the rest of her life, she could feel the bubble nearing its limit to burst. That was the first time in a very long time that she had asked herself this question, _what do I really want?_

For all her life, she was ambitious. She didn't have a dream, not even a plan of some sort, but she had always knew that she had to work hard to achieve the goal that she would set for herself. For once, she was lost; she had lost control over her life. The guys she had been with would never bring something this intense and exciting to her life like her fiancé did. That was when she thought the person that had spent months with Christian was really herself, or was it by someone that had possessed her body.

Christian proposed and she said yes, and then she thought of everything. Her mind started to process the life she had lived and she wondered to herself every night, how did she end up like she was now? She wasn't unhappy about the engagement, she was just astonished at the speed of how her relationship would progress. That was when she stomped her foot down and decided to take the reign back from Christian's hand, and told him to slow down; the only problem was, it came out too harsh and abrupt, because she was confused herself.

"Do you regret saying yes?" Christian would asked whenever the subject of the wedding or their relationship approached them at the dinner table or whenever they were alone and not fucking.

"No." Was always her answer, and it was the truth, but there was more to it.

This had become a sensitive topic for the two of them. He wouldn't understand why wouldn't she marry him if she loved him as much as she claimed. He felt her pulling away, he thought she wasn't as invested in this relationship as she was before he proposed; he feared that the flames she had for him had burnt up. The reason why she didn't want a wedding so soon was not because she didn't love him, because she loved him just the same and sometimes even more, and the initial flame of love for him was still burning brightly; she was just confused and she wished he would just giver her time.

"You two need to talk." Hannah's suggestion brought her out of her memory. Anastasia opened her eyes to find herself in the same position she was in minutes ago.

"Is that all you said?" Anastasia didn't mean it to sound so rude, but she really wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings in the past moments when she was in her own head. The moment Hannah brought up the issues that she was having at home, her mind went there instantly, and ignored everything around her.

"I didn't say anything until just then." Hannah answered, "I just got back. Apparently, José had an appointment at midnight and I was just there to check on him, offered a little help."

"He might need more help from you than I do." Anastasia gave her a look before standing up as she exhaled. "I'm just going to check on the other animals, you keep yourself busy with whomever or whatever, don't bother checking on me." She gave her a dismissive wave and exited the door where Hannah was still leaning against.

"Okay, suit yourself, woman." Hannah muttered, making a face while picking up the bottle Anastasia left on the counter, rinsing it and putting it on the drying rack next to the sink; at the same time, she was silently debating whether the bottle was necessary of disinfection or not, but finally deciding against it and leaving the room, leaving the lights still turned on just in case it was needed.

All night long, Anastasia's phone was on silence. Not only because she knew that no one would be calling her in the middle of the night, especially not her fiancé as he knew better than to disrupt her when she was working. Also, she didn't want to answer to anyone while she was on a night shift. No one in their right mind would call her for a personal favour at night, in addition to that, no one knew when her nigh shift would be, so she wasn't worried about missing anything.

However, she did missed someone's call that night, and she wasn't sure whether to be grateful about missing the call or sorry for not picking it up in time and almost cause a misunderstanding.

Christian Grey

Just like any other nights, he got home to an empty penthouse. Only this time, dinner wasn't at the table. That was when he remembered that his fiancée was working overnight.

It wasn't the first time for her to stay at the hospital for the whole night, but what he would never understand was why would anyone treat an animal like they would for a human being. There would be doctors working at the hospitals at night for patients, like her mother sometimes, and Ana just happened to be one of them, except that she wasn't treating humans, she was looking after animals.

Sighing, he slumped down in front of the dining table and finished his meal in lonely silence. This was how he felt before she came into his life and it was a feeling that he wanted to avoid. For once, he thought he'd never have to feel them again as she had agreed to be with him for the rest of their lives. Perhaps, it was him that needed to get the concept of work around his mind, because up until now, all Flynn had ever suggested was that Anastasia had a point and he should be thinking about the situation from her point of view, and try to understand her better. He thought he knew her; he thought he understood her, but apparently, every crack and every flaw that was blinded by his lover for her had surfaced once they started to settle down. They weren't teenagers who were crazy in love anymore, they were adults, ones that were planning on spending the rest of their lives together. Each of them had duties to the family, to each other and to themselves as an individual; they could no longer be the reckless teenagers that didn't need to consider the consequences of their actions or be responsible for them. Maybe it was time for him to reflect on his life lately, especially the period when he felt he was no longer in control of his heart.

Since Anastasia wouldn't be home until late in the morning, he did what he usually would: getting up when he couldn't sleep anymore, which was normally around five in the morning when she wasn't around. He went out for a run, came back to the gym and then did his morning routine. Then got to the office for the morning breakfast meeting. He would have to see her this afternoon or evening, which was always the case when she was working the night shift.

"Mr Grey." Andrea's voice came through the intercom, Christian had just finished up his last briefing with his senior staff, and he was about to ask his Head of HR about the successful intern program that they were running since launching. He hand't been thinking about it much since his little fallout at home with Anastasia.

"Your sister is here." She announced, and Christian could hear Mia's groan from a distance through the microphone.

"Send her in." Christian replied. He really wasn't in the mood to see his little sister, even though she was the best sister that any brother could ask for, but he just wanted to bury himself in work and get everything done so he could go back home; even if it wasn't the most welcoming place at the moment. He wanted to be productive and efficient at the same time, hence he wanted no appointments or visits other than the ones he already had on his calendar.

"Why do I always have to be reported and Ana can just waltz in?" Mia whined the moment the door crack opened enough to let sound travel through.

"Because you're not my fiancée." Christian replied coolly, trying his best to hide his irritation and impatience. "Why are you jealous of the power that she holds over me all of a sudden?" He inquired, Mia had always been the one to warp him around the fingers growing up, and sometimes he would just let her wrap her little fingers around him during their adult lives, but the moment Anastasia appeared in his life, Mia was no longer the one to command him around. Mia had no trouble letting Anastasia step up, still she would tease him about how he had turned from the hard-core CEO to a pussy-whipped brother just by one woman.

"She's not taking my call." Mia plopped down on the couch in his room, making herself comfortable like she always did, not that he cared. "I will kill you if it's because of that little misunderstanding, or disagreement, or whatever you want to call it that's happening between you two."

"What are you talking about?" Christian asked, he was genuinely confused and not because he wanted to play dumb to avoid the question, though he could be quite dense when it comes to those kind of matters.

"You and Ana are kind of fighting at this moment, even though no one thinks what you're fighting about is a big deal, but apparently you two are just too stubborn to act like a normal couple. So, if it's because of that fight you two are having right now that caused her to not answer my calls, it'll be on you." Mia reasoned. "I've texted her, called her, left her messages, but see," she shoved her phone in her brother's face, "she's taken none of them."

What do you need her for?" Christian still didn't get her point, but asked only wanting to proceed with the conversation. He wasn't going to understand the fact that Mia thought Anastasia would be ignoring his family because she was in a disagreement with himself.

"Poor old Deer had a stroke this morning." Mia pouted her ruby red lips, looking worried and aggrieved. She felt wronged by Anastasia, and she knew Anastasia would never treat her like that if she wasn't ani a disagreement with her thick-skulled brother in the first place.

"And how is she right now?" Christian asked in concern. Deer was Mia's dog that had been with her for the past twelve years. For some reason, she just insisted on naming her after another animal, and his speculation was because she got it on Christmas. It was gift from him and Elliot, since their parents wouldn't allow Mia to have a pet, her brothers took pity on her and decided to buy her one. Despite the protests from their parents, Mia got her pet dog in the end. Since meeting Anastasia for a panic last time, she had been relying on her with the dog for everything. Anastasia had become the personal care taker of Deer. That became even more convenient when Christian asked her out.

"Deer calmed down. I gave her the last bit of medicine that Ana gave me last time, but I want her checked." Mia looked at her phone, as if it was a baby monitor that would monitoring over the old dog and would be going off at any moment. "Why won't Ana answer me? Don't tell me it's because she hates you that much."

"She's on a night shift, and she just got back. She's tired, Mia. She didn't even return my calls and my texts." Christian explained exasperatedly. Mia could be a pain in the ass to deal with when it comes to her dog, and sometimes, he even wondered if she would ever look at a guy the way she looked at that dog.

"Why won't she answer my calls them, if she's on a night shift?" Mia whined in complaint, still not getting the point.

"Does mom ever bring her cell with her and answer every damn text when she's on a night shift, Mia?" Christian was starting to lose his patience, not only because Mia was interrupting his productive plan but also because she was making him doubt his current relationship status with Anastasia, and it was making him panic. It wasn't helping that he hadn't seen her for over fifteen hours.

"No." Mia answered in a small voice.

"I have to know about her whereabouts from her CPO whenever she's on a night shift, Mia. You're not the only one that can't reach her. Plus, you called her what, early in the morning?" Mia nodded in confirmation. "Exactly, she's just gone to bed at that time, what were you expecting? She won't be looking at her phone until she gets up." Christian explained, it turned out that he knew about her so much better than he gave himself credits to.

"I'm sorry. Can I come over later to see her, though?" I really want her to look over Deer. I'm worried about her." Mia asked, she had always been somewhat fearful of her two brothers, even though they would do anything she asked them to.

"Yes, but call either one of us before you arrive." Christian nodded, giving Mia a supportive hug and walked her out.

"What if she dies, Christian?" Mia asked out of the blue, almost breaking down.

"Ana will make sure Deer is safe and sound." Christian assured, even though he wouldn't know how to handle Mia if Deer really died on her. He would only assume that Anastasia would be the one to deal with the aftermath of the death of her pet dog, but that was something had been against to all those year; being the animal mortician.

…=…

Mia's visit triggered him into deeper thoughts, and that sent the productive plan to the back of his head and to the pit of his stomach.

A year ago, that fateful day would be a day he would never forget. The conversation would be the one that would be forever imprinted in his mind. The conversation was nothing out normalcy, but it was special to him. It was the day he met the love of his life, only that he wasn't aware of it at the time.

Death was inevitable for human, let alone for an animal. Despite the rather young age of the dog, it didn't make past the illness it was suffering from since the accident. In spite of all the efforts Grace had poured in during her spare time, all the fussing over the whole family had done just to keep that pet, it still passed away around midnight. The body was found the next morning by Grace, who then let out a hysterical cry, waking up the whole family.

The three males in the family weren't the most affectionate when it comes to sentiments and feelings, but what they did know fora fact was that the pet was something that was very close to Grace's heart. Mia wasn't any better, either, but she was able to grief with Grace.

By the time they had rushed the animal to the hospital, it was still very early in the morning. The vet only had the emergency section opened.

"Can someone help?" Mia choked out as her mother was in no state of communicating without breaking down once again. They were already certain that the dog was dead, but none of them wanted to believe it until it was announced by an official.

"Hi, yes. Can you tell me about your situation?" The nurse behind the reception desk asked kindly, although he had already guessed as much after seeing the bundle in Grace's arms. Judging from the way all the people looked, it wasn't hard to piece the pieces together, but it was still part of the protocol to ask before jumping to a conclusion.

"He's dead." Were the only two words that Grace could manage.

"Okay, can we know more about his history, Ma'am?" The guy asked politely, taking the dog out of their grasp gently and laying it on the receptionist desk. "What caused the death?" He then asked, trying to get more out of them, but there was nothing.

"José, can you come in for a sec?" A woman appeared from behind the doors, her name tag read Hannah, but that wasn't the focus of any of the people in the room.

"Call Ana here." José replied. "Our doctor will be here to help you with everything, but I'm sorry to tell you that there is nothing we can do to bring life back to him." He apologized sincerely. Seconds after he made that announcement, another woman appeared next to him before saying something in his ear and taking over.

"Hi, I'm Ana, and I'm here to help you with the funeral, the burial and everything else you want to do to say goodbye to him." She introduced herself. Everything that she was presenting shouted efficiency in their faces, and that was how she worked. She liked to get straight to the point, because she knew the longer they prolonged the process, the harder to separate the pet from the owner. When she first started the job, she would shed some tears for the pet owners, but later, she started to get used to the heavy emotion that would cloud her, she learned to be less attached.

"If there are no specific requirements, I'd like to inform you of the general procedure." Anastasia continued, her tone was kind and her demeanors were patient as she understood the feelings of the owners completely and knew better than to push them. Meanwhile, she was tired from her night shift, and all she wanted to do was to get back and sleep through her day. Normally, she wouldn't be in a rush and telling them everything until they were ready and asked for the information, but she wsan't really in the mood to wait for that long after her long and eventful night shift.

"Do you do this as a career?" Christian asked, only wanting to give more time for his mother and sister to think through the information they had just received.

"I'm sorry?" Anastasia asked, she really wsan't paying attention to him because all she wanted to do was to get the process over with. She looked bored and tired, but that was usually how she felt when it comes to times like this.

It was both fortunate and unfortunate at the same time that seh was the only known mortician for animals and pets, because she would have clients after clients sometimes, and absolutely no clients another time.

"Are you a full-time mortician for animals?" He repeated his question, but the look on his face told her that he wsan't at all into making a conversation with her, and that made her wonder why did he even bother to start the small talk, because she was exhausted.

"Yes." She answered, but felt bad for ending the conversation just like that, so she elaborated just to put the poor guy out of his misery. "I'm rather well known in my field, so people usually call me for cremation and burial. I don't exactly have a working schedule as clients usually just call and demand service right away."

"Even at night?"

"Even at night. No matter the time." Anastasia nodded, feeling another wave of fatigue washing over her, but she stood her ground, only closing her eyes a little longer for each blink.

"You look tired," he observed, "did you just get out from a cremation?" The way he cocked his head sideways would be adorable if they were under any other circumstances than this one.

"No, I just got off my night shift." She sighed, her eyes still darting from the lifeless thing on the table wrapped around a sheet and the two women sobbing right at it.

She would've noticed the handsome man in front of her if she wsan't too tired, but the Anastasia right now wouldn't even notice Adonis himself if the god actually showed up before her. She was that tired and that ready to get everything over with.

"Excuse me, Ma'am." Anastasia had finally decided that she had waited long enough, that was when she took it as her cue to give them a little shove in the back to hurry up. "You'll still have time to say goodbye to him after you learn about the procedure and sign these papers." She suggested politely, touching them on the shoulder gently to get their attention. Christian had no idea how she was able to keep her emotions at bay when clearly his mom and sister wouldn't be coming to their senses soon; he admired her since the moment they met, and it would only be increasing.

"You can tell me about it." Christian offered once Anastasia had gotten no answer from the two women who were still huddling around the dog.

"Okay." She nodded, really couldn't care less who she should be takling to right now.

That was the most ordinary meeting two people, and Anastasia addin't even notice who she was talking to that morning, but that formulated a love that was going to be passionate, hot, long-lasting and pure.

…=…

The buzzing of the intercom broke him out of his day dream. Chasten pressed down the button to hear Andrea's voice coming through. When he heard the name of the visitor, for some reason, he felt like yelling at Andrea for even announcing it when he thought he had made it perfectly clear that she was to be sent through at any hour of the day.

"I thought you're sleeping at home?" Christian walked to the door, opening it when he saw it moving slightly.

"I was, but I woke up to an empty penthouse." Anastasia answered, she liked it that even though they were having a disagreement, their chemistry was still there. "Why are you at work on a Saturday?"

"There is just something that has to be done in the office." He explained.

"So, poor Andrea just had to come in on your demand?" Anastasia had always been the campaigner for his employees, she thought he had worked them too hard that it was against the labor policies.

"I didn't call her in today." Christian pulled her on to his lap once he was seated in his leather chair behind his desk. "She had to work a few extra weekends so she could take a longer holiday for her honeymoon."

"She got married? When? Why didn't you tell me? Gee, some boss you are." Anastasia scolded.

"You can ask her now." Christian shrugged, he would never bother about his employees' personal life as long as it didn't affect their work ethics. Andrea had been working for him ever since the start of his company, and all he ever knew about her were the information he had obtained from the background check he had conducted when she was first employed.

"Andrea, can you come in for a bit?" Anastasia said through the intercom. He had always found it a turn on that she had the audacity to make herself at home in his office, sitting in his chair, going through his drawers and using his land line, moreover, ordering his people.

Andrea appeared in the office after a knock. She knew she didn't have to knock when the boss ordered her to go in, but she learned to knock when Anastasia was there, because she walked in on them in a heated make out session the last time he was called into the office.

"I heard you're getting married. Or are you already married?" Anastasia didn't even wait for Andrea to address her boss properly before firing questions at her. Andrea wasn't sure what to do. Anastasia had always brought entertainment into his office building and that was when the boss was the most relaxed, all of his employees knew that they wouldn't get in trouble if Anastasia wasn't pissed off.

"I'm sorry?" Andrea was still cautious around her boss, still skeptical of what her boss might do to her subtly as a punishment for not being professional.

"Oh, knock it off. You know you're safe with me." Anastasia patted her chest proudly. Straightening herself up in Christian's lap, she leaned her elbow on the table and stared at Andrea intently. "Come on, relax." She coaxed.

"I'll make him leave if it'll make you more comfortable." Anastasia offered, jabbing a thumb at Christian who was giving the back of her head a perplexed look. If Ros was there, she would've laughed her ass off.

"She's the boss, I guess." Christian rolled his eyes, wondering how he could be whipped by a pussy so easily. It was the kind of man that he despised before he met his woman. Before her, he would never understand how man would just cave into anything their girl asked, but he had been finding himself surrendering every inch of himself to her as days went by. The fact that he enjoyed spoiling her in every possible way shocked him even more.

"Ignore me." He raised his arms up in surrender, only wanting Anastasia to get her interrogation over with. He knew if he stopped her from interrogating his personal assistant, she would be upset, and that was the last thing he wanted her to feel, especially if he was the cause of it. Picking up his phone from next to the pile of paper on the desk, he started to zone out from the conversation, not that he planned to join in the first place.

"Wait, you didn't want to say it in front of him, is it because your partner works for him, too?" Anastasia speculated, the movement of her ass on his dick brought his attention back to the on-going conversation that he would never tolerate in his office if it wasn't for his fiancée.

"Guilty." Andrea nodded her head, admitting.

"Barney?" Anastasia smiled deviously as she said the name. "I knew it." She exclaimed when Andrea's face morphed from anxiety to fear. "Don't worry, he'll turn a blind eye to it. Won't you, baby?" Anastasia smiled sweetly at her fiancé, knowing full well that he had heard the last part of the dialogue.

Christian opened his mouth to say something only for Anastasia to slam her hand on his mouth, then turned back to Andrea. "When is your honeymoon?" Wait, are you married already?"

"Yes, we're married, but we aren't sure if we'll have time to go on the honeymoon." Andrea admitted.

"How long will your trip take?" Anastasia was asking only out of curiosity.

"Two-weeks." Andrea replied.

"Christian can survive without you for two weeks." Anastasia decided for the CEO. "I'm sure he's capable of functioning without an assistant as perfect as you." The compliment made Andrea shift uncomfortably and Anastasia noticed the change, so she stopped immediately.

"It's two whole fucking weeks, baby. How the hell are you expecting me to get use to the chaos?" Christian scowled at Anastasia, not exactly giving a damn about Andrea's existence in the room.

"Well, you know what they say, Mr Grey?" Anastasia leaned up to him. "Suck it up, Grey." She said in his ear, but the room was quiet enough for all parties to hear.

"Okay, you can go now, Andrea." Christian groaned, shooing his assistant out of the door before shouting after her to block everything. "Had fun taking care of my company."

"Not, nearly enough."

"Then do you want to take over?"

"I'll think about using it to fund my veterinary project." She mused, even though he had already told her he would cover all the expenses of her research, she was still hesitant to hand the proposal to the government.

"Slept well, baby?" He hummed in her ear after a while of comfortable silence between them.

"Hmm?" She turned her head to face him in a lazy motion. "No." She then replied, unashamedly. When she saw the expression on his face, she grinned, almost deviously.

"My devious little minx." He smiled, but that wasn't a relieved smile, he knew there was still something bothering her.

"Tell me the real reason why you were in here on a Saturday morning." She suggested nicely but the words weren't really that kind.

"I wanted to get out of the house for a while and be on my own. I just want a place for myself to think." He confessed. "I'm not saying that I felt suffocated when I'm with you in the penthouse, I do feel at ease at home, but with what's going on between us now, I want a place to clear my mind." He quickly added this explanation, not wanting her to get the wrong idea.

"That's what I thought." Anastasia sighed, but not for the reason he was tensing up for. "I thought about everything last night and this morning. I understand your need to get away, I know it's hard to think about everything when I'm sleeping at home just not far from you. I don't blame you for leaving me this morning, but I can't deny the fact that I did go through a couple of scenarios."

"Ana…"

"I know," she shushed him faster than her brain could think of the words she was going to say next, "I am just saying that I did some thinking, although I can't say I'm completely sober right now, because I am sleep deprived."

"I'm sorry. You usually get up around noon or even later, I'm sorry I left early this morning."

"You do realize that you'd be sending out a search party the second you realized that I'm not in the apartment, right? You wake up the instant I'm out of bed." Anastasia chuckled.

"Are you suggesting that I'm rubbing off on you?"

"Maybe. More or less." She shrugged and he gave her a cheeky grin.

Turning her body around so that she was now straddling him, she wrapped her arms behind his neck, leaning forward slowly, she pressed their nose together, then touched his lips with hers. It was a brief kiss, but it was still so much more than a peck.

"How does this feel?" She mumbled against their lightly connected lips.

"Home." He replied, not missing a beat. "This feels like home."

"What were you thinking when I walked in?" Anastasia asked, pulling away slightly, still letting their forehead touch.

"How we met." Christian answered proudly.

"And did you figure anything out?" She teased.

"As a matter of fact, yes." He replied in all seriousness.

"What is that?" She continued to act careless, half-suspecting his seriousness to be some kind of foolish game to fool her.

"I've figured out the meaning of home." He said blissfully.

"Enlighten me." She requested.

"Without another word, he puckered up his lips and pulled her head closer until their lips touched. The electric current flowing through their connected lips reminded him of their very first kiss, and how it felt exactly the same; because he knew that he was home when her lips touched his. At that moment, he knew that he would wait for eternity for her if it meant that they would share the connection that they were sharing right now. He realized that he wouldn't mind a long engagement, because if she was still his fiancée, then he would wait until she was ready to take him as her husband.

"This, is home."

* * *

 **I might continue this, but it really depends on my schedule. I know some people want it to continue and I'm sure there are people out there who will be cursing me about this story, but who am I to stop you from voicing your thoughts? All kinds of reviews are welcomed; I won't reply to all, but I will still reply.**

 **Update for _A Fling or a Lifetime Commitment_ will be up soon, I am concluding it.**

 **I'm also working on another entry for the Sisterhood FB Group challenge. Hope I'll see your review to my entries after May 1!**

 **Also, I'm here to thank the following who reviewed on my story in the Sisterhood Group post:**

 **as25, smills, tullochsophia, fundays, mllezeau, munecomama, Margaret Talai, Don't trust your eyes, Brendalwood, dream2bawrtr, velosewer, Carol222, sammyfl, sunflowerexpress.**

 _Laters, baby x_

-SapphireTrafficker-


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